CEGP condemns alleged ‘red-tagging’ of campus journalist

MANILA, Philippines — The College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP) has denounced the alleged red-tagging of the editor-in-chief of campus publication the University of the East Dawn, which publicly criticized the government’s response to the novel coronavirus disease outbreak.

“College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP) Metro Manila strongly condemns the red-tagging and the arrest of University of the East (UE) Dawn Editor-in-Chief Joshua Molo after publishing critical opinion with regard to the Duterte administration’s response in the COVID-19 pandemic,” read the statement.

The campus media organization said Molo was summoned to a barangay hall of Cabiao, Nueva Ecija, on Sunday afternoon.

According to CEGP, Molo’s “Facebook account was then probed by police.”

In a text message to INQUIRER.net, Molo said he was forced to issue a public apology after he supposedly called out his former high school teacher for downplaying his political views.

“I was accused [by] my former (high school) teacher of cyber libel. They want me to issue a public apology or else they will file a case against me,” Molo said.

“This is after I called them out for making fun of my political view. They said that their complaint is backed by the Cabiao (Philippine National Police) Cyber Crime division,” he added.

Molo also alleged the PNP threatened to arrest him.

“The PNP allegedly red-tagged me saying, hayaan lang daw ako mag-post para dadamputin na lang nila (just let me post so they can just arrest me),” he said.

KGA